


Life Goes On

by orphan_account



Category: Derry Girls (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Character, Family, Family Bonding, Gen, Missing Scene, Sarah being wise and people being surprised, Sarah's Backstory, She's also Bi, Slice of Life, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-13 09:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18466273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A collection of Derry Girls oneshots, vignettes and introspection pieces I didn't want to make into longer fics, mostly about the family dynamics.





	1. Of Mothers, Fathers and Sisters

**Author's Note:**

> I love our girls, but honestly, the family dynamic is such a refreshing one to see in a sitcom and I wanted to explore it some more.

“I knew he’d stand her up, poor thing,” Sarah said, moving back from the window, from where she had watched Erin and James walking away.

“How did you know that?” Mary whipped around.

“We’ve never heard about him until now, and she’s boy crazy, that one. He didn’t seem very reliable.”

“Well, she’ll forget all about this John-Paul character, now she’s with James. He seems to be decent enough, even if he is English.”

“Ach, surely that doesn’t matter, Mary?”

“Well, I suppose not. It’s just not what I’d imagined for her, but he didn’t think for a second before agreeing to take her, and he had plans tonight. He’s much better than a fella that stands a woman up.”

“Yeah,” Sarah murmured, “There ought to be some sort of law against that.”

Mary smiled to herself, nodding when she saw Sarah’s wide, inquisitive eyes, “Sure, love.”

“Did you know daddy was taking Orla?”

“No, I had no clue,” she said, “I thought it was very sweet. She’s just like you, you know that, Sarah?”

“Really? You think so?”

“In a good way! You’re both very…gentle souls.”  
Seemingly content with her explanation, Sarah nodded and sat down at the table. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, in a more timid voice,“Do you think if things had turned out differently-“

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Not important.”

“No, go on.”

“If things had been normal with her father…” she gulped, “Then she might have a real date? She would have grown up with more good male- “

“Sarah, don’t go down that road again. It wasn’t your fault, ach love, come here,” she rested her hand on hers on the table, “Don’t even blame yourself for a second. She’s doing great.”

She didn’t want to brush her off, she never did, but she knew it would be bad if Sarah got thinking about it for too long again. Mary could vividly remember the black eyes- the scratch marks- the way she cried as she patched her up, stroking her hair and telling her she wasn’t going back to him. The day they found out she was pregnant.

Reaching across, she gently wiped away the tears forming,“Orla turned out just fine, you did a wonderful job. She’s happy and safe, and loved.”

“You really think so? She’s not, you know…normal?”

“None of that matters, she’s different, and it’s okay.”

“And you don’t think she needed a f-“

“Sarah, look at me,” she said, not trying to sound quite so sharp, her face softened, “She’s got da, and Gerry, even Colm. That’s all she needs. Three fellas are better than one that hurt her mother. You’re a great mother.”

She nodded, forcing a smile,  
“You’re right; I’m being silly.”

“No, you’re not, it’s normal,” she stood, pulling Sarah into a little hug, rubbing her shoulder, “Come on, let’s see if Gerry’s fixed the TV yet, we’ve already missed Coronation Street, but we might be able to catch the end of the news and a film. Take it easy tonight.”

She laughed, properly, dabbing at the corners of her eyes,“Are you going to give him hell about missing Corrie?”

“Of course I am.”


	2. Life According to Gerry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spot the Sing Street reference. I like to think Derry Girls is set in a universe where Conor and Raphina survive the journey and somehow make it to London for a record deal and Sing Street is a big new wave band.

Mary and Gerry, living in Derry had a nice ring to it, so he thought.

From the start, he knew it would be a lot harder than that, but as he sat; noticing his father-in-law glance suspiciously over at him, as though he could find something wrong with them sitting together, watching television, and his sister-in-law resting her head on Mary’s shoulder; he couldn’t be happier.

He’d never really fit in around Derry since his parents moved them up to Northern Ireland when he was a teenager. He missed Dublin. He missed his friends. He missed the more relaxed way of living.

If he tried really, really hard, he found a way to miss Synge Street.

But everything changed when he met Mary, at a dance set up between St Benedict’s and Our Lady Immaculate, supposed to promote growth within the Catholic community. It only resulted in the nuns being at their wit's end, trying to keep the boys and girls apart.

He noticed her straight away, standing in the corner in a dress he could only describe as “ancient and embarrassing”, stood next to a taller girl, in something a lot more fashionable. Her long, blonde hair was curled back, and he was taken in by her smile as the girls talked, it seemed to light up the whole room.

It took him most of the night to pluck up the courage to talk to her- let alone ask her to dance. But she had disappeared before he did. And the girl with her had gone too, so he couldn’t even ask for her name…if he’d dared.

Nearly twenty years later, he could have kicked his teenage self for not getting it together and asking her to dance earlier. But as it was, they’d found each other again a few weeks later; and a few more after that, they were on their first date. Of course, with her younger sister hanging around, it had been much more awkward than he had anticipated.

They saw whatever trendy, new film was on at the time, he could never remember. Mary always could.

_Logan’s Run! How could you forget our first date?_

_In all fairness, Mary, I was a bit preoccupied with thinking about you._

And he walked her home, despite her protest that she was perfectly capable. She kissed his cheek on the doorstep, and her sister’s eyes widened comically as the door closed behind them. Despite that, he grinned like an idiot all the way home.

 

They’d been going steady for three years when Mary told him she was pregnant. He’d never planned for kids, but he promised her he’d be there, and he proposed the same day, with the family ring his mother had given him on his eighteenth birthday. She was over the moon, a little tearful as he picked her up and twirled her around, kissing her tenderly in front of the sunset.

He’d met Mary’s father, Joe, a few times before. Each time he felt like he was holding his breath the whole time, terrified. He knew Mary’s mother had died when they were younger, and that Joe would be more protective over the girls because of it, but he had not expected…well…whatever happened the night she announced their engagement.

“This prick, Mary, are you sure?”

“What’s wrong with Gerry, da? He’s got a job, and he treats me well. I’m happy with him,” she pleaded.

“He’s from the free state, is he even Catholic?”

“Yes, da, he’s Catholic.”  
“You’re not knocked up, are you? Oh, Jesus, you are.”

Silence fell around the room, and he looked nervously up, wondering if spilling everything out would really be the best plan. He didn’t want to say anything, not knowing if Mary and planned on telling them she was pregnant- that was her decision to make.

“I love her, Sir, it’s not like that. I love Mary more than anything and anyone in the world.”

“Aye, I’ve seen that,” Sarah nodded, and they turned to her.

“What do you mean, Sarah, love?”

“It’s quite sickening, actually, da,” Mary kicked her under the table, and she broke off, “You know…just them being in love.”

He wanted to hide his head in his hands and never look up. Surely Sarah wouldn’t mention just what she’d seen in the cinema. She’d spent more time in the row in front of them watching them than watching the film, or so they found out when the lights came back up, and their cover for kissing was blown.

He wished he could have found it unnerving, but he was slowly growing used to Sarah’s off-beat behaviour. Mary made it seem so normal.

“What have you been doing to traumatise your sister now?”

“Nothing, daddy! She tagged along on a date is all!”

“You didn’t invite her along with you? Mary!”

“No, da, I didn’t invite her to be a third wheel!” she threw her hands up, “Look, daddy, I’m happy with Gerry. We’re getting married, and that’s that.”

It seemed like something changed as Joe looked at Mary like he was proud of her for being so forceful.

“You’re just like your mother sometimes, you know that,” he smiled, then turned to Gerry, “I might not like this, but if my daughter wants it, then so be it. But, some ground rules-“

“Oh, Christ, da!”

 

As a young adult, he could barely have thought he’d survive the years of Joe’s overprotectiveness nature and insults, but he’d made it- all in one piece, with only some of his dignity missing. His eyes flickered back to where Joe was sat at the kitchen table, fiddling about with the kit, then back to Mary’s hand gently stroking Sarah’s leg. He savoured the small, quiet moment before Erin and Orla came through the door, chattering away excitedly and grinned.

They were Mary and Gerry, living in Derry.  
And he was at the happiest he’d been with their little family.


	3. "The Talk" According To Orla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mary gives the talk, and Orla deals with the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: a mention of rape
> 
>  
> 
> A/N: I didn’t make it clear but I’m picturing Erin is 15, and Orla, 14; so it’s a bit late for the talk really, but it just fitted better. I was thinking about if they were younger how the show could handle it in a comedic way, but am I really going to write something that isn't at least a little depressing? Nope.

“Girls, can you both come here a moment? I want to talk to you about something very important.”

“Well, I’ll be off then, Mary,” Sarah smirked, “Have fun!”

“Yeah, thanks for your help, Sarah,” she said sarcastically.

She turned to Orla, kissing her forehead,  
“Behave yourself, love.”

“Bye, mammy,” she smiled, reaching back to hug her goodbye.

“Erin, come on,” Mary called, trying not to show her frustration, “It’s important, we need to have a wee talk.”

“What about?” she sat down at the table.

“The facts of life, girls,” she said, “You’re old enough to know now, we don’t want any unfortunate things happening now you’re getting older.”

“Mammy, we’ve already talked about this at school- babies are made when a sperm and an egg-“

“No, Erin, they taught you the science of it and nothing else.”

“Well, there’s nothing else to it!”

“Sex, Erin, for Christ’s sake, I’m giving you the sex talk.”

“Oh, class,” Orla murmured.

 

 

 

 

“Gross,” Orla murmured, looking at the diagram her aunt had drawn.

“Grow up, Orla, it’s not gross, it’s human biology,” Erin said, rolling her eyes.

“Less of that, Erin, she’s younger than you.”

It did sound gross, Orla thought. Nothing about what Mary had described seemed nice. And she was supposed to want some boy to do that to her? Just for a baby?

No way.

 

 

 

She left the Quinn house earlier than usual, just after dinner, not feeling like speaking to anyone else- especially since Michelle and Clare were round, and they were already arguing. She could barely deal with that on the best of days, doing her best to zone out and distract herself, but not today. A little part of her still felt confused and shaken up by what Mary had told them.

Sure, she didn’t believe babies were brought down by a stork anymore- sure, that was just silly. Their beaks might be strong, but not strong enough for a baby. But she’d never stopped to think about how they were made- or what that entailed.

 

 

 

Orla let herself into the house, trudging up the staircase to her bedroom, knowing her mother would still be at work. She sat down at her desk, looking up at the little figures of animals she had on her desk.

She couldn’t imagine that any animal would be as weird as humans. They just mated, and that was it. None of the complicated signals and strange gestures Mary had told them boys would do to initiate sex.

In a way, she wished she was one of the little creatures…maybe a cow. They lazed about at pasture all day. That sounded nice and peaceful.

But she wasn't. She had to be prepared. She decided she would start keeping her penknife in her pocket, instead of her bag, just in case any boy tried to do anything to her. That would be safer.

 

 

 

It had been a few hours, and she couldn’t get her mind off of it, and how uncomfortable the talk had made her. How scared she suddenly felt about growing up and being expected to do all those things. She could barely imagine that all the grown-ups she knew had done that. Her mother? Really? Her Aunt Mary too? She shuddered, feeling bad for them. It mustn’t have been pleasant. She heard the front door open and close at about ten, and guessed her mam had been next door after work. She heard footsteps on the stairs but made no effort to get in bed, just sat with the blankets over her legs — no point hiding how worried she was.

“What’re you still doing up, love?” Sarah asked, coming into view of the doorway to her room, “You should be in the land of dreams.”

“Can’t sleep, mammy.”

“Oh?” she came in, sitting down at the end of the bed.

She wondered if this was one of those things people didn’t think was polite to talk about for a moment- maybe they knew how strange it seemed, and didn’t want to frighten other people. There was a minute of silence before she spoke again, playing with the hem of her pyjamas,  
“Do you know about what Aunt Mary told us about earlier?”

“Yes,” she said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t have told you myself, but we just thought it would be better to tell you wains at the same time. I’m always here if you have any questions though, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, “I just want to know- well, sex doesn’t sound very nice.”

“It doesn’t?”

“It sounds painful and weird.”

“It doesn’t have to be; it can feel quite nice.”

“I don’t want some boy doing that to me,” she said decisively, reminding herself that she was in control, “Mary said it’s because I’m too young.”

“You are a wee bit young, but it’s important you know about it early,” she smiled.

"And I don't think any boys are attractive, is that because I'm too young?"

"Maybe," she nodded, "But maybe you just haven't found anyone you like yet?"

"I wouldn't do that with any boy, even if I liked them."

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. You can say no if someone tries.”

“What if he doesn’t accept that?”

She saw Sarah take a deep, shuddering breath and raised an eyebrow, confused,  
“Orla, it’s very serious if he doesn’t. It’s called rape. If that happens, scream as loud as you can for help and try to defend yourself if you can't run away.”

“Okay,” she didn't really know what to say- it sounded like her suspicions had been right, she had to be careful.

“Promise me you will?”

She’d never seen her mother this serious. Or maybe she had? She could remember little bits as a toddler, of her, sat at the kitchen table surrounded by papers with words she couldn’t recognise- something to keep her father away from them, according to Erin. She didn't really know what happened there- he wasn't in any photographs, and she'd never met him. Erin told her she'd overheard Mary saying he was a bad man.

“I promise,” she said, eyes wide- she couldn't quite put everything together, but suddenly understood why her mother's tone had changed, “I won’t let anyone hurt me.”

“I know you won’t, I just worry about you,” she paused, “What about the rest of it, love? You’re okay with everything else she said. You understand it?”

“I think so. I understand all the diagrams,” she said, then admitted, “I’m just scared to grow up, I think.”

“It’ll all be better than you think, it’s scary at the moment, but it’ll be okay; like when you first went camping- when you heard that noise in the night, but woke up in the morning and everything was calm.”

“Okay,” Orla nodded slowly, taking her deep, soothing breaths, “I think I want to sleep now.”

“Alright, then,” Sarah smiled, reaching across to ruffle her hair.

She pulled the blankets up again, feeling their heavy weight over her chest, feeling safer already. She couldn’t help but feel a little silly; it wasn’t like some boy would try anything soon. She was worrying over nothing. Nothing could hurt her; she was at home. Her mammy’s room was just across the hallway. It was okay.

“Night, mammy.”

“Sweet dreams, love.”

The door creaked open again about fifteen minutes later, Sarah had changed into her pyjamas, and taken off most of her makeup, hair hanging down in ringlets around her face.

“Are you still awake?” she whispered gently.

“Yeah,” Orla nodded, not opening her eyes, the light from the hallway was too bright for her.

“It’s been a hard day, huh? How about you take tomorrow off school? Make it a long weekend. We can spend the day together, just us, you don’t need to tell Erin or anyone.”

“I’d like that,” she murmured, “I’d like that a lot.”


End file.
